Published September 2, 2025 11:30AM
Gaia GPS Adds Overlanding Layer for Smarter Off-Road Navigation
Plan, download, and navigate the backcountry with Gaia GPS鈥檚 new features designed for vehicle-based adventure
(Photo: Lyudinka/Getty)
My husband and I were four days into our week-long trip chasing hot springs in the Gila Wilderness and National Forest in southern New Mexico. Gray wolves had howled us to sleep each night, and one had even stared at us along a long, jeep road. We鈥檇 run, hiked, and overlanded the wooded roads and trails within America鈥檚 first designated wilderness. We hadn鈥檛 seen another person in two days.
But on our mission to find another remote hot spring, we鈥檇 gotten turned around. When I pulled out my phone to check the map, nothing would load. We were deep into the Gila鈥檚 558,000 acres of rugged wilderness, with only a quarter tank of gas left in the truck. So we headed north, hoping we鈥檇 eventually hit State Road听159, which would bring us back to a main highway. Luckily, we did, but not before plenty of anxiety and bickering put a brief damper on our trip.
Gaia鈥檚 new overland map feature would have saved us a lot of guesswork and stress. (Gaia is owned by our parent company, 国产吃瓜黑料 Inc.) Designed specifically for vehicle-based adventures, it layers together everything from paved highways to rugged, unmaintained tracks鈥攁ll with data from , the U.S. Forest Service, and BLM. Road surfaces, seasonal closures, public land boundaries, and the next gas station or campsite are all right there. With the map鈥檚 color-coding, you can tell at a glance whether you鈥檙e headed for smooth gravel or unmaintained dirt, so you can plan accordingly before you鈥檙e too far off the grid.
Gaia鈥檚 overlanding and planning magic is apparent when you start stacking up different map layers. Want to see where motor vehicles are allowed? Turn on the Motor Vehicle Use Maps layer. Need to make sure you鈥檙e camping legally? Add the public and private land overlays. Curious about whether you鈥檒l have service to check in with family鈥攐r if there鈥檚 a wildfire in the area? Cellular coverage and fire activity layers have you covered. It鈥檚 the kind of contextual awareness that turns a nerve-racking drive into a stress-free adventure.
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And when it comes time to plan, Gaia鈥檚 tools make it easy. The snap-to-trail routing feature automatically follows existing roads, while the freehand 鈥渇inger鈥 tool on Android lets you sketch your own line through the backcountry. Use the map legends and interactive map on the web to spotlight only what you need鈥攍ike water sources or campsites. Then, download everything for offline use before you lose signal. Once you鈥檙e out there, Apple CarPlay and Android Auto integration mean your map shows up on the dash, not just your phone. In other words: no more arguing about which turn to take when you鈥檙e 50 miles from the nearest town.
